Chaga Mushroom A Super Antioxidant

Hi Everyone !

A team of Cornell University scientists subjected 25 fruits to a series of tests of antioxidant content and cellular activity. Wild and domesticated blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, strawberries,and pomegranates topped the various lists in varying orders. All brightly coloured fruits scored very well in all measures used in the study. Across all fruits in the diet, apples were found to provide 33% of total phenolics, reflecting very high consumption and moderate phenolics content. Oranges provided 12%, grapes 12.8%, and strawberries 9.8%.

In urging increased consumption of nutrient-dense, brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, the team cited the latest report from the USDA's Economic Research Service on fruit and vegetable intakes. According to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans the reccommended daily intake of fruit is 2 cups per day, based on a 2000 calorie diet. The authors conclude that "Antioxidant activity provided by fruits may be important in the prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases." Source: Kelly L. Wolfe et al., "Cellular Antioxidant Activity of Common Fruits," Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 56, No. 18, pages 8419-8426.

As Delicious As Fresh Berries are, is there something with even higher anti oxident properties ?

Gobbling up as much brightly coloured, in season, fresh, organic fruit as possible,  will help you stay healthy. But what about when they are not in season and are cost prohibitive ?

One wonderful food I turn to and supplement my diet with is the Chaga Mushroom. Chaga (Inonotus Obliquus) - Chaga is one of natures oldest medicinal herbs. Indigenous people have documented use of Chaga for 4,600 years and it's also considered a sacred native American herb which causes up to 4,000% modulation of white blood and other T killer cells within about 20 hours after ingestion. For centuries, Traditional Chinese Medcine practitioners have used Chaga for general health, to arrest tumor growth, enhance longivity and natural beauty. Russians have used it to boost the body's immune system, combat viral, bacterial, anti-inflammatory disorders, for treatment of stomach ulcers, to remove edemas, fight tuberculosis, reversal of tumor growth, metastasis prevention, treatment of diabetes, detoxification, influenza, treat liver dysfunction, combat fungal and parasitic disorders. It can be used internally, taken in herbal tincture form or made into hot or cold tea, used externaly or inhaled from smoke.

Chaga belongs to the group of medicinal mushroom that are "adaptogenic." ... Adaptogens normalise bodily functions, raising low levels up to normal, or lowering high levels down to normal. The word Chaga derives from indigenous languages which are spoken around the entire Arctic Circle. The Nez Perce used it in pemmican and were immune to diseases suffered by Europeans. After close inspection, physicians attributed the herbs that the Indians were ingesting to their heightened immunity. These herbs included Tiaga or Tsi Aga (Chaga) which builds and strengthens the immune system. Chaga is a mushroom that commonly grows in northern regions on birch, alder and beech trees. Wild naturally growing Chaga is very rare and very valuable. Chaga is hard to find in the woods and difficult to procure commercially. Chaga is considered a black parasite shelf fungus found on living truncks of mature birch trees in colder climates and resembles burnt charcole. Chaga draws its nutrients out of the living trees rather than from the ground. Fungi digest food outside of their bodies by releasing enzymes into the surrounding environment, breaking down organic matter into a form the fungus can absorb. It causes the tree's death in 5 - 7 years, and in fact, Chaga Mushroom is called "birch cancer" in Russia.

The shape of the mushroom also resembles that of cancer in the human body. After Chaga is harvested, the birch tree withers and dies. Due to pollination of its seeds, a next generation is ready for harvest 20 years later. Siberian species grows best in extreme winter conditions below minus 40 deg C at least 4 - 5 months per year.The extreme nature of the Siberian winters appear to be the environmental quality that yields premium Siberian Chaga mushrooms high in anti-oxidant value.

Nobel Laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn (the Russian author of Gulag Archipelago) was impressed with the healing powers of Chaga to treat cancer. During his 1950's investigative research in Siberian hospitals he wrote from personal experience in his Pulitzer Prize winning book The Cancer Ward. "He could not imagine any greater joy than to go away into the woods for months on end, to break off this chaga, crumble it, boil it up on a campfire, drink it and get well like an animal. " Told that he had terminal cancer, Solchenitsyn claims to have defeated his cancer by sneaking Chaga into the cancer ward. Chaga is well known for stimulating the immune system and its powerful anti-tumor activity, and was approved in 1955 by The Medical Academy of Science in Moscow for public use against cancer.

Chaga enjoys a long history of anti-cancer use in the Eastern Hemisphere and throughout the world. Today, Chaga tea is commonly used in Russia as a kitchen remedy to support a healthy immune system. Chaga is approved for "food" use by the FDA.

Siberian Chaga, unlike the other medicinal mushrooms has an exceptional amount of beta glucans, saponins, amino acids and contains large amounts of Beulinic Acid in a form that can be ingested orally, and it also contains the full spectrum of immune-stimulating phytochemicals found in other medicinal mushrooms. Chaga also has a very high "SOD" (Super Oxide Dismutase) content. SOD is an extremely potent antioxidant enzyme that fights cellular damage from reactive singlet oxygen molecules, also known as free radicles.

Research suggests that SOD may be the most important anti oxidant enzymes in our bdy for the control of free radicles, keeping our cell membranes youthful, supple and healthy.

Chaga has far more SOD than Vitamin C, E, CoQ10, Apples Strawberries, Wild blueberries and other high SOD foods such as barley grass, seaweeds, prunes, fish oils, and even many essential oils. The FDA has recommended that people should increase their antioxidant consumption to 7000 ORAC units a day to help lower their risk of Cancer. ORAC stands for "Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity." This is a scale that measures the amount of free oxygen radicals in your body that a food or supplement can absorb. Free oxygen radicals are unavoidably formed in our body when we suffer an immune deficiency and from normal daily living, stress, pollution, sun exposure, toxic chemicals, smoking, food toxins etc. These free radicals destroy our cellular structure and make us more vulnerable to disease.

According to the University's research the higher the ORAC value, the more beneficial it is for the body. Research also shows that eating fods with high ORAC value help protect against age related memory loss. Chaga has the highest reported ORAC score in natural foods. Chaga also contains polysaccharides and triterpenes, compounds that help support the thymus and spleen.

The Top ORAC fruits and vegetables per 100 - Tufts University.

Food                                                                                                 ORAC value

Chaga                                                                                                    365,570

Acai berry freeze dried                                                                            41,000 +

Cacao, unprocessed                                                                                26,000

Tibetan Goji berries                                                                                  25,310

Acai berries fresh                                                                                    18,500

Dark Chocolate                                                                                      13,000

Prunes                                                                                                     5,890

Purple Cabbage                                                                                      4,200

Pomegranates                                                                                         3,370

Raisins                                                                                                    2,890

Blueberries                                                                                             2,450

Blackberries                                                                                           2,080

Garlic                                                                                                     1,939

Cranberries                                                                                            1,798

Strawberries                                                                                           1,570

Spinach                                                                                                  1,290

Raspberries                                                                                            1,220

Brussel Sprouts                                                                                         980

Plumbs                                                                                                      949

Alfalfa Sprouts                                                                                           930

Steamed spinach                                                                                        930

Broccoli flowers                                                                                        910

Beets                                                                                                        860

Oranges                                                                                                   750

Red Grapes                                                                                              739

Red bell pepper                                                                                        710

Cherries                                                                                                    670

Kiwi                                                                                                          602

Grapefruit                                                                                                  483

Onions                                                                                                      450

Corn                                                                                                         400

Eggplant                                                                                                   390

Carrots                                                                                                     200

There are over 1,600 in vivo and vitro clinical publications supporting medicinal mushrooms, including cancer, immune deficiencies, diabetes, HIV, regulates blood sugar, boosts energy levels, anti aging, hormone imbalances.

Siberian chaga studies include: Cancer research, breast, lung, immune deficiencies, anti viral, anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, stomach, melanoma, pulmonary, diabetes, rectum, immune, hormonal, ulcers, TB, liver, cardiovascular, leukemia, HIV.

Chaga can be used in conjunction with most pharmaceutical drugs, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Chaga may be prepared as a tea or taken in tincture form.

Barbara is a qualified nutritionist and health and wellness expert offering one to one nutritional counseling in person or online. See Barbara's healthy lifestyle course with tips and support for a healthier lifestyle.

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